Fear of Success – It Happened to Me!
Good morning!
A strange thing happened to me this week. Before I tell you about it, I’ll share the good news.
Good News
I was in Internet Profits’ Monday “Ask Us Anything” session, asking about setting up my landing page for Quora. Sophie Sion Byde asked me why I needed it. I have a free video ready to go. There’s no need to overcomplicate things by making another lead magnet. I could, but that would take time away from getting traffic by answering Quora questions.
I hadn’t realized I could use the video as a Quora giveaway because it talks about making a certain amount of money daily. I was concerned Quora wouldn’t like that. But since the video opens up away from the Quora website, it will be okay.
I was elated! This was going to save me a lot of time. I had reached the place where I wanted to be. The only thing on my to-do list was Quora questions and my weekend blog. I am set up for success to happen!
Fear of Success
Tuesday came. I went to answer Quora questions. I was frozen; I couldn’t answer even one question. I tried. I failed. My excitement was high, and I couldn’t move forward. What had gotten into me?
Wednesday came. I forced myself to answer one question. It took 45 minutes. It was so hard. I couldn’t figure out what had gotten into me unless it was fear that I was so close to success. It seemed that I might make my first sale with one answer to a Quora question. For some reason, I seemed stuck- like in Candy Land’s molasses swamp. Instead of losing a turn in a board game, I was losing days in my business. I could trudge through on my own or ask a question for Thursday’s Ask Us Anything session. Of course, I asked.
My question was vague by its nature. I seemed to be frozen, unable to answer questions. I seemed to be so close to success was stopping me from trying.
I didn’t know what to expect from the answer session. I expected some strategy to help me trudge through my stuck-ness until it got easier.
Instead, Sophie asked me, “What’s the worst that could happen?”
I laughed. Of course, nothing terrible will happen if I start making money in my business.
I suggested that I could just set my fear next to me as if it were something of a person and carry on like usual. In this way, I’d acknowledge the fear. It would still be there, but it wouldn’t be in the driver’s seat.
Sophie said I could do that. That is good. But she also urged me to consider why I was afraid.
So, I thought about it. I had been so concerned about a quick-action solution to my problem that I hadn’t considered the problem itself.
The Cause
It hit me: There would be no structure!
My whole world will fall apart when I have more money.
- How do you budget when you have plenty of money?
- We’ll quit our day jobs. We’ll have no daily routine.
- Derek loves to make people laugh. What if he’s unhappy not cheering on the people at work daily?
- What if we have everything we need/want but somehow become unhappy in our marriage? We’re happy now. When everything changes, will we still be happy?
The Solution
I realized it would take a while before our world changed to this extent.
When we can change our lives, we’ll also help our families. It’s going to take some time.
We’ll adjust to the change.
And, of course, I talked to Derek about it. He assured me we’ll figure it out.
My world will not be upended tomorrow because I answered some Quora questions today.
Conclusion
Taking the time to consider why I was stuck helped me to get unstuck.
I was focused on immediately taking action to “fix it.” It made me more productive to consider why I got stuck in the first place.
Please leave a comment. Have you faced any fears as you start your own business? How did you overcome them?
If you’d like to see why I’m so excited about my lead magnet being ready to offer, check out my free video. I have the four steps for my business to begin making money in place. Yay!
